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Sunday, August 16, 2009

The Sunday Salon - First One Down!

Since Chuck and the kids are out of town for another week, I decided to take a break and head out to my mom's house for a four day weekend of relaxation and hilarity. Whenever we get together there's much laughing, good food, and lots of Nintendo DS playing. With no distractions to contend with, I zipped through the remainder of my first pregnancy guide: The Joy of Pregnancy, by Tori Kropp, R.N.

If you're wondering how I picked this one, it was a very scientific process. I went to the library and it was one of the few books that was checked in. I was afraid, given the title, that it'd be really hokey and sugary ridiculous, but surprisingly, I found it very informative and pretty straightforward.

Kropp is a labor and delivery nurse, so she says she wrote the book because she saw a lot of women coming into the delivery room so overwhelmed by info that they couldn't make heads or tails of what they'd learned. As a first-time mama this was a great book for me because I never felt as if Kropp was blowing sunshine up my ass, and I learned a lot.

Do I think experienced moms would learn as much as I did??? Probably not.

Overall, this book was comforting and reassuring without being New Agey or particularly sugar-sweet. I learned medical stuff, practical stuff, all kinds of stuff. It's laid out month-by-month and addresses the baby's stages of development, how the mother is probably feeling at the given stage, and there's a section just for the dads at the end of every chapter.

I can see buying a copy of this book to keep around for month-by-month reference for sure. I also plan to check What to Expect When You're Expecting out from the library (if it EVER comes back in) to compare. It seems to be a love it or hate it kind of title, and so far I feel pretty comfortable with Kropp.

To read an excerpt of the book or Kropp's blog, check out her website.

In related book news, I'm reading Raising Baby Green at the moment, and I'm not learning as much as I'd hoped. I guess it's my own fault since I read about the green movement all the time. Info gets recycled (ha!) after a book or two. I'll keep y'all posted and let you know if it improves. Don't get me wrong, it's good advice for those who are new to the green movement, but if you've been involved for a while it's stuff you probably already know.

I also bought a copy of The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy based on your recommendations. I read a little bit of it in the store, and if nothing else, it's HILARIOUS. We'll see how it stacks up to more practical guides like The Joy of Pregnancy.

On the unrelated-to-babies front, I saw Julie and Julia yesterday and thought it was de-lightful! I'll follow up with a movie review shortly. For now, I'm off to get horizontal for a quick nap. Y'all behave!